07:55 AM CDT on Thursday, April 6, 2006

By Eric Hanson / The Houston Chronicle

In a rare move, the Texas Education Agency has denied permission to the Fort Bend Independent School District to start classes Aug. 9.

State officials said 285 Texas school districts have been granted waivers this year and only one, Fort Bend ISD, has been turned down. The TEA cited a lack of community consensus in rejecting the district’s request to start school earlier than the state mandated week of Aug 21. 

“We truly regret any inconvenience this change in the proposed calendar start date may cause to our parents, students and staff who thought we would be starting school on Aug. 9,” said acting Superintendent Manuela Pedraza.

State law requires school districts to show they have a community consensus to get a waiver from the normal start date, said TEA spokeswoman Debbie Ratcliffe.

“We look at a variety of evidence to try and determine that. Of course, one of the easiest ways is to look at the board vote,” she said. The FBISD board voted 4-3 on March 8 to seek state approval for the waiver.

“That certainly is not much of a consensus as when you have a 7-1 or 6-1 vote. And I know the board vote weighs heavily in that [TEA’s] decision,“ Ratcliffe said Wednesday.

School district spokeswoman Mary Ann Simpson said school officials thought the 4-3 vote would be sufficient to support the request.  School districts seek early starts because employees enjoy having a week off at Thanksgiving, two weeks around Christmas and a week of spring break.

With the extra holiday time, the early start date is needed to ensure meeting the state-mandated 180 days of classroom instruction. Districts also contend that an earlier start date is necessary to finish semester final exams before the Christmas break.  By not starting early, students sometimes face final exams upon returning from the long break, without time for classroom review of instructed material.

The TEA granted waivers last year to 745 districts while denying permission to two, said Ratcliffe. Texas has 1,037 school districts. Fort Bend ISD school board president Lisa Rickert voted against starting class Aug. 9. Rickert said she was concerned some students would still be away for summer activities and would miss school. 

Lower attendance, she said, could reduce the district’s state funding, which is based on daily average attendance. The district has about 66,000 students, the seventh largest in the state.

Almost two dozen Houston‑area districts have secured waivers for the 2006-07 school year. The Houston Independent School District is planning to apply for a waiver to start Aug. 14 rather than the week of Aug. 21. 

Ratcliffe said in addition to the school vote total, the TEA also considers surveys, comments at public hearings and letters when reviewing a waiver application.

She said the state agency received no letters regarding the FBISD waiver application.

State law mandates school districts hold at least one public hearing about early start dates.

Simpson said the district held a hearing attended by 11 people, with seven speaking for the early start and four against.

Who will start before Aug. 21: Alief, Alvin, Angleton, Brazosport, Clear Creek, Columbia-Brazoria, Conroe, Cypress-Fairbanks, Danbury, Dickinson, Friendswood, Galena Park, Katy, Klein, Lamar Consolidated, Pasadena, Pearland, Shelton, Spring, Spring Branch, Sweeny, Texas City, Tomball.

Source: Texas Education Agency